Yacht Rock
] Yacht Rock is an 11-part series following the fictionalized lives and careers of American soft rock stars of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Created by JD Ryznar and Hunter D Stair, it is one of the most successful projects to come out of Channel 101. J. D. Ryznar and Hunter D. Stair devised the series after noticing the incestuous recording careers of such bands as Steely Dan, Toto, and The Doobie Brothers and the singer-songwriters Kenny Loggins and Michael McDonald. For example, McDonald co-wrote Loggins' "This Is It" and Loggins co-wrote McDonald's band The Doobie Brothers' "What a Fool Believes" and also performed backing vocals for several other 'yacht rock' artists, including Steely Dan and Christopher Cross. Yacht Rock's episodes were "hosted" by "Hollywood" Steve Huey, a legitimate music critic for Allmusic." It should be noted that the term "Yacht Rock" is never used throughout the series by any characters except for by Huey during his introductions, instead it is always referred to as "Smooth Music". Channel101.com Summary What can be said about Yacht Rock that hasn't been said by various magazines, newspapers and disc jockeys across the country? J.D. Ryznar and Hunter Stair's saga detailing the unknown mythical origins of a previously obscure genre of music struck the audience like a lightning bolt on its first episode, much like fellow 101 breakout House of Cosbys. Unlike HoC, however, Yacht Rock was never sued by its iconic characters' real life counterparts. In fact, it is said that at one time or another, just about every musician lovingly portrayed in the series has witnessed and enjoyed it behind closed doors. Yacht Rock enjoyed success on levels and in ways previously unattained by 101 shows, its title becoming a household phrase at radio stations, a bin at your local record store and a category on iTunes. But beneath its pop cultural triumph was an artistic one that often went undescribed: Yacht Rock's stories were always clever and sometimes downright genius in their assembly, weaving trivia, common knowledge, exaggerations and fabrications into a rope strong enough to hold it at the #1 position for an unbelievable number of non-consecutive months, setting audience share records at Channel 101 that are unlikely to be broken any time soon and sweeping the 2005 Channy Awards. Ironically, Channel 101's most memorable show came to its end quietly and unremarkably, not unlike some of the careers it saluted with a smirk. Instead of choking on its vomit in a Paris bathtub or overdosing on a Hollywood sidewalk, Yacht Rock simply told us one last story about Steely Dan, then hoisted its sails and drifted away while a satisfied crowd waved goodbye from the docks, exactly one incredible year after its historical debut. Bye, Yacht Rock. We loved you. Episode List SPOILERS in the Episode Summaries! 1. "What a Fool Believes" SCREENING DATE Sunday, June 26th - 2005 AUDIENCE SHARE 70.2% (1st at screening with 194 votes) In the pilot episode, Kenny Loggins, under the guidance of Koko Goldstein, reaches out to a struggling Michael McDonald, who's having trouble writing a smooth hit for his band the Doobie Brothers. 2. "Keep the Fire" SCREENING DATE Sunday, July 24th - 2005 AUDIENCE SHARE 95.0% (1st at screening with 233 votes) Loggins and McDonald pair up against the duo Hall & Oates for a songwriting competition. Koko is accidentally impaled by his lucky harpoon during the ensuing melee, but is at peace before his death by hearing the smoothest song ever sung by a young Christopher Cross. 3. "I'm Alright" SCREENING DATE Sunday, August 28th - 2005 AUDIENCE SHARE 68.9% (2nd at screening with 234 votes) As everyone grieves Koko's death, Loggins lashes out at McDonald and "smooth music" as a whole, causing a rift between the two. An entertainment executive behind the movie Caddyshack demands that the movie's director, Harold Ramis, obtain Loggins' talents to write the movie's theme song. Ramis takes advantage of an angry and confused Loggins and gets him to write and record the hard rock song "I'm Alright" much to McDonald's dismay. 4. "Rosanna" SCREENING DATE Sunday, September 25th - 2005 AUDIENCE SHARE 87.7% (1st at screening with 274 votes) Steve Porcaro (Steve Agee), the keyboard player of the band Toto, is asked by his girlfriend, Rosanna Arquette, to write a song about her, and she wants him to have Michael McDonald sing on the track. Discouraged by McDonald's disdain for his band, Porcaro devises a three-step plan to make it happen. 5. "Believe in It" SCREENING DATE Sunday, October 30th - 2005 AUDIENCE SHARE 78.6% (1st at screening with 268 votes) Toto has been commissioned to write a smooth song for Michael Jackson's Thriller, but Jackson rejects the band, believing after working with Eddie Van Halen on Beat It that such material is in his past. Fearing that Jackson will destroy "smooth music" for a decade, Porcaro turns to McDonald, Loggins, Skunk Baxter, Cross, and Vincent Price (James Adomian), to summon up Koko's ghost for help writing Human Nature. 6. "The Seed Drill" SCREENING DATE Sunday, January 29th - 2006 AUDIENCE SHARE 62.1% (2nd at screening with 315 votes) "Hollywood" Steve's father demands that Steve stop wasting his time on Yacht Rock, and regales a historic tale of Jethro Tull, which is very similar to episode one. 7. "I Keep Forgettin'" SCREENING DATE Sunday, February 26th - 2006 AUDIENCE SHARE 89.1% (1st at screening with 318 votes) McDonald and Loggins make a bet about McDonald's new song, "I Keep Forgettin' (Every Time You're Near)", that takes a decade to resolve. Ten years later, Long Beach-based rappers Warren G and Nate Dogg struggle with creating smooth rap (yacht rap), and only when they kidnap McDonald, is there a solution to everyone's problems. 8. "Gino (the Manager)" SCREENING DATE Sunday, March 26th - 2006 AUDIENCE SHARE 70.9% (2nd at screening with 251 votes) "Hollywood" Steve returns to the very beginning, where Doobie Brothers producer Ted Templeman explains his dream about the origin of "the smoothest rock he's ever heard" to Skunk Baxter over lunch. Baxter suggests seeing Koko about it, and Templeman starts seeing his dream come into fruition as he meets a young McDonald, then a background singer for Steely Dan, being talked into joining the Doobie Brothers by Steely Dan and Koko, Loggins showing signs of his imminent break from Messina and solo stardom, and an effeminate Hall and Oates with a very familiar looking manager named Gino, who tries to bully McDonald and Loggins into employing him as a manager. When they refuse, he plots revenge. 9. "Runnin' with the Devil" SCREENING DATE Sunday, May 28th - 2006 AUDIENCE SHARE 66.9% (4th at screening with 216 votes) Van Halen puts a curse on Ted Templeman to force him to produce their hard rock song. In a subplot, Loggins loses his car keys and has everyone in the studio helping him look. Comedian Drew Carey makes a cameo appearance. 10. "FM" SCREENING DATE Sunday, June 25th - 2006 AUDIENCE SHARE 44.4% (7th at screening with 155 votes) Steely Dan and the Eagles settle a long-time, childish feud with a hit song. 11. "Footloose" SCREENING DATE Sunday, January 27th - 2008 AUDIENCE SHARE n/a Jimmy Buffett is convinced by Kevin Bacon and Gene Balboa to trick Loggins into making yet another movie song. He is subsequently kidnapped by Buffett and psychotic "Parrot Heads" and its up to McDonald and James Ingram to rescue him. Jason Lee makes a guest appearance as Bacon. Video:Yacht Rock Episode 1 Video:Yacht Rock Episode 2 Video:Yacht Rock Episode 2 (long cut) Video:Yacht Rock Video:Yacht Rock Episode 4 Video:Yacht Rock Episode 5 Video:Yacht Rock Episode 6 Video:Yacht Rock Episode 7 Video:Yacht Rock Episode 8 Video:Yacht Rock Episode 9 Video:Yacht Rock Episode 10 Video:Yacht Rock Episode 11 Production When asked by Will Hines on the Channel 101:NY forums about how good the production and editing values were on Yacht Rock, Ryznar replied: "Its just the blessing of living in LA. I work for a company who lets us borrow their 24p and the office itself on the weekend. My next door neighbor is an editor. In LA, EVERYONE's next door neighbor is an editor, although I'm one of the few creators that doesnt do his own editing. Plus channel 101 is just an amazing wealth of acting talent. Yet, everyone is a writer... but everyone can act. Its weird and awesome. The studio is courtesy of Ryan Elder who emailed me after the first Yacht Rock and said "I'm a fan of Yacht Rock. I work at a recording studio wink wink." Its amazing. Someone on Yacht Rock is working on a big movie (MI:3) so we used this huge HOLLYWOOD BLOCKBUSTER greenscreen that they had THROWN AWAY (it was 20 by 20 and scraped!) to shoot the Koko ghost stuff, which we set up in the DV room of my office, lit with the company's lights, etc, etc. Everyone loves making movies here, and not everyone wants to be in front of the camera or behind a typewriter. Some people just like to work on projects that actually get finished. This town is awesome. We shot two days on this one, each about 6 hour days. I'm not sure how long the editing took. Lane picks at it here and there while he works on other things. Then I come in after the rough cut and we tighten the shit out of it, usually about 2 4-6 hour sessions with him gets it done. But really, the secret is the Panasonic dvx100a camera. They're coming out with new models now, so maybe the older, but still awesome, ones will get cheaper. I want to own one soon. Fingers crossed." :::''-JD Ryznar.'' See also * Yacht Rock/Quotes External Links * Episodes and Information at Channel101.com * Wikipedia article * A Yacht Rock party how-to. * Interview with JD about series. Category:Yacht Rock Category:JD Ryznar Category:Hunter D Stair Category:Channel 101 Category:Cancelled Shows Category:Steve Huey Category:Brenan Campbell